You Are My Sunshine
by His-StoryNerd
Summary: Kara's powers only ignite when she faces a moment of extreme adrenaline, but for Kara having faced so much pain in her life. The pain she's faced has dulled her emotions and has effectively caused her mind to not allow the proper stress responses to fire when faced with harmful situations. Kara still has the drive to help people to feel needed adds to her sunny personality.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first attempt at creative writing, so any and all feedback is more than greatly appreciated. But on a side note how was this so much easier to write than my history paper.

 **Chapter 1**

Kara came to gasping for breath, with ears ringing like church bells and a mind too scrambled to make a coherent thought. She was lying face down in what felt like really sticky dirt, something she couldn't quite understand at the moment. A few minutes later she started to gain a greater level of consciousness and the pain hit her like the full force of a truck. She could feel her arm was most likely broken at some point and her shoulder felt like it was on fire along with most of her body.

Kara slowly sat up and took in the scene around her, a humvee was lying destroyed and smoking in the middle of a dirt road and she could see members of her unit strewn about like they had been thrown from the humvee. Just one look at the scene and Kara knew what had happened, on their way back to base their humvee must have gone over an IED. Slowly, Kara stood up ignoring the pain she felt to go check on her friends.

Kara's commanding officer, Captain Holland, was down a few feet away from her in a bad way, she knew his chances were decreasing and that if they didn't get help soon or move from their location they were going to be further up shit's creek then they currently were. Before making her way over to her captain she quickly went through the wreckage searching for supplies. Once she found the med kit she grabbed it and ran to her CO. As she kneeled over him assessing his wounds she noticed the ringing in her ears had stopped and was now filled with the harrowing screams of her friends.

Working faster now she completed a once over of her CO and noticed that the worst injury was his leg which was bend badly out of shape and bleeding profusely, grabbing the med supplies she dug through it until she found a tourniquet and just as she was about to apply it, he grabbed her hand startling her from her actions and drawing her from the autopilot mode she found herself to be in.

Shaken Kara went back to her task of applying the tourniquet, "Captain Holland sir, I need to put this tourniquet on your leg before you bleed out there's so much blood."

"No, take the supplies and check on everyone else first then you can help me with whatever supplies may be left."

Kara spoke as head shot up to look at him, her eyes glistening with tears she prayed to Rao would not fall. "Sir!? I'm not just going to leave you with your leg bleeding like that until I know that you are going to..." But before Kara could finish her sentence she was interrupted by Holland yelling at her "LIEUTENANT DANVERS. This is an order you are going to follow I will not allow you to focus on me when our unit is hurt, listen to their cries go help them"

Captain Holland looked at Kara and saw the look of pain that flashed across her usually bright and sunny features as she fought the tears that were on the verge of falling. With this he knew that she was going to put all her effort in helping the unit that had become his family, so he closed his eyes and felt his own tears fall as he heard her response that sounded unusually far away "Yes sir, but you stay and fight you hear me do not let go. Please, please whatever happens do not stop fighting, do not let go. I promise to bring you home" Kara barely held on as she choked out her plea and promise to Captain Holland, and before the floodgate of emotions opened she grabbed the med kit and moved to help her friends just like she was ordered to.

Running over to the nearest person, she set to work back on autopilot just thinking they had to move fast to avoid the swarms of insurgents she knew were coming. She just hoped and prayed to Rao that the base could see the smoke from the accident or that they realized that her unit missed their check in time and were in desperate need of help. Kara went running between the three others in her unit making sure they were awake and treating their injuries despite the pain she felt from her own injuries. After treating her unit, she determined that the nearby building on the outskirts of the town they were in was the best place to hid, she got the remainder of her team to start heading over while she was to fix herself, their CO and grab a few more supplies.

Once she had patched herself up to the best of her abilities she went to go check on her captain, but as she made her way over to him she knew with a growing sense of dread that his fight was over. So she knelt down beside him and whispered "May we meet again" as she said her own personal goodbye Kara took a moment to pray to Rao asking him to take Holland's soul into the light so he may burn as bright as the stars and that he can hold his place in the universe.

Kara stood up picking up the lifeless body of her captain as she walked over to the remains of the Humvee in search of some supplies and their radio because this was the first chance she got to contact people for help. As she looked through the wreckage all she could think about was Lucy Lane the overly hot lawyer assigned to the base to aid in operations and missions, and just how all she's wanted to do since first seeing Major Lane was walk up to her and kiss her like her life depended on it and maybe once safe she would do just that. But before she could lose complete focus she went back to searching realizing that she was now in charge of her unit and there were families depending on her to bring everyone home.

"For the love of Rao" Kara cried when she realized that the radio had been lost to the explosion and that their chances of survival just diminished by tenfold thankfully when searching she found their survival pack which had both some rations and flares. Grabbing the flares and her officer's body she trudged her way to the building she directed her team to.

* * *

Major Lucy Lane paced the operations tent growing more worried and frustrated as hours went by. Today there had been five away missions to various villages around the base and four out of the five had returned the one that had not was Kara's unit. With a growing sense of worry and anxiety she went to her CO to see if she could gather any details.

Steeling her resolve Major Lane walked up to the General's office and knocked on his door. Hearing his brisk "Come In" being shouted from inside Lucy felt herself physically shirk as she entered the office, still she stood tall saluted with a just as brisk "General Lane, Sir."

General Lane returned the salute wary as to why his daughter was standing in his office. Interactions with both her and Lois had always been difficult. Ever so cautiously he asked "Major Lane, what can I help you with" Lucy could sense the discomfort it was a growing tension that was making the room unbreathable but she was going to stay and ask because she needed to know what was going on with the girl that she was crushing on. "General Lane sir, I was wondering if there was any news on the last away unit, they still haven't checked in sir and my friends were on that mission"

Feeling relieved that this wasn't a family matter with confidence General Lane casually explained to his daughter that their unit had to take the long route back to base because there was evidence of IEDs on the usual road back from the village they were visiting and it would take them a lot longer to check in and not to worry because it had been discussed before they left the village.

Major Lane felt the anxiety seep out of her, salute her father and left his office. As her shift was over for the day and there were no projects she could focus her mind on she headed to the mess hall where she grabbed coffee and a quick bite to eat, just waiting for her sunny friend to return hoping to god she would have the balls to tell her how she felt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lucy was gratefully enjoying the fragrant, smooth and deeply satisfying drink thoroughly along with this rare down time that seemed to flying by because soon she was well into her second cup of coffee. As Lucy sat there nursing her cooling drink, waiting for a new update on Kara's unit her mind began to wander from thought to thought. This first thought to filter through her brain was her father and after the conversation she'd just had with him she was flooded with all her childhood memories of her family and her sister Lois who was the star. The next thought that bombarded her brain drawing her away from her family was Kara, sweet, sweet puppy Kara who could light up the world with her smile. The more she thought about Kara the more worried she became and before she could get swept up in the swirling storm of her thoughts she decided to work out knowing that it would ease the impending tidal waves of emotions that were already starting to rise. So Lucy fled the mess hall and headed to her bunk where she quickly changed into a tank top and shorts before heading outside to stretch and loosen up in anticipation of her run.

Lucy ran around the base more times than she could count, with each step her mind cleared and she felt peace overtaking everything else. Only when she had slowed down and walked to her bunk did she realize that between losing herself in her thoughts and running hours had passed and there was no new news on the whereabouts of Kara's unit. As a major who has been serving in the army since university, Lucy knew that information on base that was of significant value spread like wildfire. Due to the fact that she wasn't hearing any negative news, Lucy decided to shower and change before taking a seat at one of the benches that would allow her to see past the wall which surrounded the base.

While sitting on the bench Lucy could see people running in about out of the operations tent, with a heavy heart and a growing sense of dread and apprehension Lucy slowly headed over to the tent. She knew there was nothing scheduled that called for this much activity. At the opening of the tent she looked inside and her legs almost gave out because standing there was her father General Lane, she knew he was only involved in day to day operations when shit had hit the fan. Taking a moment to compose herself she entered the tent with a sense of confidence as if she owned the damn place snapping orders to gain the pertinent details of the situation.

* * *

Back in the village, Kara had met up with her team on the second level of the building where they had the greatest vantage point of the surrounding areas, using binoculars to scan the area, they determined that no one was advancing on their position allowing them time for a much needed breather, even if it only lasts a moment. In their moment of rest Kara looked around focusing on the faces of her team remembering every little detail about them to heart, knowing that to her dying breath she would get them home. After what had felt like a second of rest which was actually mere minutes, they started to debate plans to signal for help not wanting to waste more precious time as their individual conditions were becoming more critical and dire as time ticked slowly by. Kara's biggest concern was that at any point insurgents would come looking at the wreck so they couldn't just stand outside and send off the flare, it was an argument that was currently taking too long to sort out.

It had been going back and forth for a while and Kara had enough so she just yelled hoping for reality to finally sink in. "We can't just set off the flare outside that's the equivalent of serving ourselves up on a gold platter. If you want to do that we may as well go back to the wreck and wait for them to come find us."

Her outburst shocked them into silence and contemplation and Kara watched as they looked at each other in silent communication before one of them, Corporal Brooks, spoke up. "Fair point Lieutenant, I think I speak not only for myself but also for Jordan and Slater that whatever plan you have, we will follow to the letter."

Kara just sat there with a distant look and the slightest crease of the brow and wrinkle of her nose allowing one to know she wasn't lost in thought as she stared off into space for what felt like an eternity. Kara's brown crease deepened as she suddenly remembered one of her officer training days where Lucy had spent the better part of an hour detailing what she would do in a situation like this and a light bulb switched on, she began speaking hoping and praying this risky idea had a chance to work. "Ok here's the plan Brooks as you are in the best condition you will be on lookout. Since Slater is in a bad shape and needs to be constantly checked, I want you, Jordan to look after her and keep her alive, I know you have the most medical experience here as I just signed off on your emergency medical responder certificate. And finally when help arrives you are to make sure that Captain Holland's body goes with you, I promised that I would get him home and we're going to make good on that promise. I need you to acknowledge that you understand my orders." As Kara gave her orders she could see the emotions go through her units' faces from confusion to anger to sorrow.

From her spot on the ground Slater spoke up "Lieutenant, may I ask why your orders sound like you do not plan to leave with us?"

The response came quickly. "No, you may not ask. You are to do as you are told. I have faith that someone back at base will understand what I am doing." With that Kara stood up grabbing her gear and without another word headed out of the building.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kara slowly trudged away from her unit to set about her plan, but it was excruciating work, with each slow and deliberate step she took she could feel a shooting pain cross her body, but with the image of her dying CO and the faces of her unit committed to memory she persevered. As she marched along she was reminded of her mother's last words to her that she would have great powers and she would accomplish extraordinary things on this earth. Kara contemplated this and she thought 'all I've had since coming to earth was pain and suffering, I accomplished nothing and I failed my parent's last request that I go to earth to take care of my cousin Kal-El.' The more she regarded her losses and grief the more she thought why did her parents not allow her to die with them and join them on their final journey to the light of Rao, she wondered why her cousin left her with a family she never fully felt part of, she wondered about all the what ifs her life could have been and slowly it shifted to Lucy and what her life could be.

As Kara continued to walk she slowly shook away her brooding thoughts and focused on her task at hand. The plan that Kara wanted to enact was created thanks to Lucy's ingenuity. Lucy's idea was that if she were in this position or even just plainly stranded with her unit she would as the officer in charge keep her unit hidden while she created a diversion with the flares, with the aim of taking any heat of her team and alerting the base that they were in need of assistance. So this is exactly what Kara was doing, once she determined she had enough distance from her team's location she sent the first flare off and continued to walk further and further away sending off more flares at an evenly spaced rate. Kara knew that the international distress signal was done in sets of three but she didn't want to alert any agitators in the area that they were in distress. After the fifth flare was fired Kara felt the fatigue kick in and her vision started to go dark before she passed out Kara had two people flutter through her mind the first was Alex her older sister and best friend the second was Major Lucy Lane the girl she was majorly crushing on.

Kara collapsed gracelessly face first on the sand, lying like this for the second time in a day she could feel a cold darkness creep around her even though it was one of the hottest days and in the middle of a dessert no less. The cold seeped into her bones and she was reminded of the cold, unforgiving, deep and empty darkness that was the phantom zone where she had spent 24 years of her life in a pod. It was an overwhelming feeling and for a moment she was confused thinking she was back in the pocket-sized suffocating pod that was her prison for what felt like eternity, so she listened but instead of the sound of her pod all she could hear was silence and it roared in her ears deafening all other senses.

* * *

Back in the operations tent on base Lucy was slowly being filled in on the events that led the General to believe that there was a troops in contact situation. Lucy learned that Kara's unit should have arrived back to base over an hour before based on an estimate that included all possible contingencies, and according to regulations if they could not make it to base for that time they should have called it in but instead they were faced with radio silence. The silence and the unknowns created an atmosphere where people felt unnerved and concerned so Lucy took this moment to address the group "Attention! I know we are all worried about the possibility that some of our own are out there in danger especially with the incoming reports of an explosion that happened earlier today but for the sake of our friends and fellow soldiers we much push past our fears and emotions to provide them the best chance of survival in a worst case scenario situation." Before Lucy let the officers get back to work she turned to and addressed her father "General do you have anything to add?" General Lane looked inspected the group before settling his disproving gaze on Lucy shaking his head and ordering them back to work.

It had been about half an hour since Lucy had walked into the operations tent and a decision had been made to send out two units to bring the missing unit home. After this was decided it came down to General Lane's decision to determine the unit commanders. Before he could think through who he was going to send out, Lucy stepped towards him and in an uncharacteristic move she begged her father to let her lead one team. "General, I know you probably have two leaders in mind who are more than qualified to find them, but please sir let me lead one team to find my friends, let me help bring them home." The General was taken aback as a look of surprise fluttered across his brow but as he regarded his daughter, he saw her for the first time in a while. So with a nod and small smile he agreed "Alright, Major go gear up you leave in 10."

As Lucy and her team were driving off base they saw on the horizon a streak of smoke and red that pierced the sky. A ray of crimson in stark contrast against the lingering mellow purple, blue of the sunset. Lucy sat in the truck staring at the sky caught up in her worry that she almost missed the second flare that illuminated the ever darkening sky not five minutes later. The confusing part about the second flare was that compared to the position of the first flare it was moving farther and deeper into the village, it wasn't until the third moving flare five minutes later did Lucy realize that it was her own idea of a distress signal that was being illuminated in front of her very own eyes. The only thought going through Lucy's mind was 'out of all the self-sacrificing, idiotic verging on suicidal things a soldier could do in battle was being done this very moment by Kara and that it was all Lucy's fault for coming up with the damn idea'.

As they were nearing the village Lucy drove back her thoughts she picked up the radio to communicate the plan of action with the other teams' officer Captain Reyes. "Captain Reyes, we need to re-invent our plan after those flares. I know what they mean so the new plan is divide and conquer. You will head to the outskirt of the village search for the wreckage once you find that move in towards the village until you find the unit. I'm going to head to the location of the last flare and pick up Captain Danvers who is responsible for this distress signal." Captain Reyes' response was immediate "Understood Major, radio if you need back up we will do the same. Over"


End file.
